Nearly 100 staff at ITV in the West, including Bristol, will lose their jobs the company announced today.

Staff were told this morning that around 84 jobs would be lost in the ITV West and ITV West Country operations as the company cuts back its regional news service. 

Now the company is facing the threat of strikes as employees gear up to revolt against the plans to save millions.

A letter to journalists, technical staff and other employees said 1,075 staff would be reduced to 646 - a cut of 429 jobs - in England and Wales. The letter said the move would save the company £40million.

An ITV West employee, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Bristol Evening Post: "We're being told about the redundancies at a meeting at 9.30am Tuesday.

"It's difficult to know how many staff will be going but my guess is it will be around 50 per cent.

"Primarily it's news here so the majority of jobs will go from that, and current affairs.

"ITV West and ITV West Country employ 190 people and ITV as a whole needs to save £40 million.

"They think they can save a lot of that here.

"The implication of the Ofcom report last week was that the new programme would be done here and Plymouth would close.

"But whatever happens I think it may end up being done in somewhere like Southampton eventually.

"ITV have been trying to sell this building for years, but they've never found a buyer.

"It's a building that has been designed for broadcasting, not for regular office use.

"Staff here are feeling down. We have seen it coming for a year but the day of reckoning has finally arrived.

"I think it's fair to say people are worried about a drop in the quality of the programme produced.

"If you're the BBC and you have a half hour programme at 6pm, and ITV have 15 minutes, which are you going to watch?

"The content won't be as localised. The BBC will continue to provide news while ITV is trying to get out of it."

National Union of Journalists spokesman Laura Davison said: "It's catastrophic. More than 50 per cent of staff across the West Country have lost their jobs.

"They've got more than 150 people working there. It's a black day for the industry.

"It's hard to see how we can avoid industrial action. We're having a meeting on Thursday nationally and we'll see what comes out of that.

"But we'll probably dispute and that may lead to strike action."

She added that while the Bristol office would remain open for the moment, there are plans to relocate it elsewhere.

ITV spokesman James MacLeod said: "Bristol will be the main production centre for ITV West.

"There will be about 84 redundancies across the West and some of these will be from Bristol."

He confirmed that ITV was looking into relocating the Bristol office in the future.

The company said in a statement: "Having today outlined the proposals for regional news with employees across the ITV News Group, ITV plc is providing further details of its cost efficiency programme, first announced as part of the ITV Turnaround Strategy in September 2007 and updated at the ITV year-end results in March 2008 and interims in August 2008.

"The cost efficiency programme is designed to sustain ITV plc's £1 billion investment in UK content, which is at the heart of the Turnaround Strategy.

"In September 2007 ITV plc announced that it would deliver £40 million of annual savings in its regional news services, taking effect in 2009. We shall now begin consultation with employees over proposals to reduce the head count."

ITV said in its interim results in August that by the end of the year it would deliver £41 million in cumulative annual savings.

The company also indicated that, in the face of "challenging market conditions", it intended to make further cost savings of £35 million across the company by 2010.

The statement added: "Following restructures of the finance, press and publicity, brand and commercial and ITV global content divisions – including Northern Resources – ITV can confirm that (also including the impact of disposals) its group head count has been reduced by almost 425 positions to date with a further 75 roles which are in the final stages of consultation. A separate review of ITV's technology department begins today.

"In total, and including company disposals, ITV plc expects to reduce head count by around 1,000 posts over 2008 and the first two months of 2009."

Media regulator Ofcom published its second public service broadcasting review last week.

It said regional programmes on ITV could be slashed to help it save £40 million a year.

Ofcom's consultation will run until December 4, with a final statement early next year.

The Government and Parliament would then be due to consider issues raised.